What About Men?

“What About Men?” Part III of the Judy Chicago Dialogue Portal, addresses the often contentious subject of men in a feminist environment and takes up some of the challenges of making institutional changes in terms of curriculum. Part III features and is inspired by the 2014 symposium talks by photographer Donald Woodman and Andrew Perchuk, deputy director of the Getty Research Institute.

What About Men by Donald Woodman, photographer and collaborator with Judy Chicago on the Holocaust Project (1985-1993) exhibition and teaching (2001-2005), at the Judy Chicago: Planting a Feminist Art Education Archive Symposium at The Pennsylvania State University on April 6, 2014.

Because of the social pressure and the rewards promised for supporting a patriarchal system, it is difficult for both men and women to stand up to and change these values and practices. Collaborating with Judy Chicago in recent teaching projects, Woodman has provided a role model for other men of how to act in a supportive/cooperative/inclusive manner in an effort to both challenge and change the dominant patriarchal model of studio art education.

This talk looks at the origins of feminist art in Southern California. It examines the conditions that women artists labored under before feminism and the steps these artists took to intervene and materially change their situation. Artists such as Judy Chicago, Miriam Schapiro, Faith Wilding, and Suzanne Lacy created new models of artistic education, launched groundbreaking projects like Womanhouse, and founded their own institutions such as the Woman’s Building. The lecture presents new research on how feminist artists recast some of the terms of Los Angeles art, transforming supposedly universal and apolitical concepts such as craft, perception, and place into gendered and politically-engaged terms that had a revolutionary impact on 1970s art.

Part III Dialogue Questions:

Judy Chicago invites you to dialogue with her about studio art education by responding to the six questions in each of the four sections of the Dialogue Portal. Introduce yourself in relation to art education (e.g., student, teacher, artist) and share your perspectives in relation to others’ posts.

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